{INCREDIBLE} LEMON BARS

These incredible lemon bars are the perfect sweet and tart dessert. Using fresh lemons makes them the perfect springtime dessert.

These perfect lemon bars are different in the sense that this recipe gives you thick and tall lemon squares instead of thin and flat like most other recipes. The best lemon bars are made that way so that you can share with a large group of people and still get your fill. With the recipe below giving you a 9×13 casserole pan, you can easily feed 20+ people. One small square is so rich and filling that it makes the perfect serving size!

 

Tips for Making These Classic Lemon Bars

While I was making these incredible lemon bars, I stumbled upon a few “tricks” that made it much easier! Let me share them with you!

 

Trick #1- To get more juice out of a lemon, put them in the microwave for 15 seconds just prior to juicing them. This gave me so much more juice than I even needed!

 

Trick #2- Zest the outside of the lemons BEFORE juicing them. This makes it much easier, trust me.

 

Trick #3- If your butter isn’t soft (but it needs to be) then you can use your microwaves defrost function. Setting the defrost for 1 minute worked for me, but you may need to adjust your time.

 

Trick #4- If you don’t own a microwave or don’t have the defrost function, you can grate your cold butter using a cheese shredder. Place it into a bowl and wait a few minutes, it will soften pretty fast this way.

 

Are Lemon Bars supposed to be gooey?

Yes, lemon bars should have a natural amount of gooeyness to them. You don’t want them too gooey, as that is a sign that they were undercooked, and you also don’t want them to be so overcooked that they’re firm and grainy.

The perfect lemon bars can be shaken slightly while being pulled from the oven and the center doesn’t jiggle. Think of the top of a cooked pumpkin pie, it’s pretty close to that.

 

Do I need to refrigerate lemon bars?

Classic lemon bars are a custard-filled dessert and as such, they should be refrigerated if they won’t be eaten and served on the same day. They are safe to leave out for a few hours for a party or gathering, but all leftovers should be kept stored in an airtight container within the fridge to keep them from drying out or spoiling.

Incredible Lemon Bars Ingredients

Crust:

-1 cup butter, softened

-1 tsp salt

-1/2 cup sugar

-2 cups all-purpose flour

Filling:

-2/3 cup fresh lemon juice {uses about 3-4 small/ medium lemons}

-3 TBSP lemon zest

-1/3 cup + 2 TBSP all-purpose flour

-6 eggs

-2 1/4 cup sugar

 

 

How to Make the Best Lemon Square Bars

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Line your 9×13 pan with foil or parchment paper. I’ve used both. Foil tends to stick to the bottom of the lemon bars a bit, so if I had to choose one, I’d say use parchment paper.

{Note: in a couple of pictures below, I used a bakers quarter sheet. Just use a 9×13 pan. Trial and error on my part! }

 

 

 

Combine the crust ingredients and mix well. Press the crust into the pan using the back of a spoon or your hands. Hands work well. I like to first get the crust spread evenly, then I try and push the edges of the crust up just a bit so that it holds the filling better.

 

 

Bake the crust for 20 minutes.

While the crust is baking, prepare ingredients for the filling.

Mix all filling ingredients with a whisk in a large bowl.

 

 

Once the crust is done, allow it to cool for 10-15 minutes, preferably in front of a fan so that it cools to room temperature, or close to it.

Pour the filling onto crust. Carefully put it back into the oven. Bake for about 35 minutes, paying close attention to and watching the last 5 minutes so that it doesn’t brown excessively.

Remove from the oven and then dust the top with powdered sugar. Allow it to cool for a few hours before cutting. {If you don’t have a few hours, then place them in the fridge after a while, to cool faster.}

ENJOY!